Parents need to protect children from the “porn” version of sexuality that has “saturated” the online world, a Daily Telegraph columnist has warned.

Allison Pearson said that youngsters exist in a parallel, virtual universe which is “tougher even than we know”.

She refers to Claire Perry, David Cameron’s childhood adviser, who says half of all teenagers regularly see pornography.

Responsibility

Allison Pearson said it is a “fulfillment of our deepest responsibilities” as parents to have the “embarrassing” conversation about sex.

She said, “as a society we really do need to teach children a healthy, emotionally connected view of sexuality that has nothing to do with the porn version that has saturated their parallel world.”

She also talked about how: “Mainstream media has made porn-inspired sex seem compulsory for girls at ever younger ages.”

Unprotected

Allison Pearson said parents should be involved in what their children are seeing online and on their mobile phones: “You wouldn’t let your child wander unprotected in a real alien land, so why is this virtual one any better?”

Diane Abbott, the shadow public health minister, said in a speech last week that an “increasingly pornified” British culture is damaging young people.

She said the rise of sexual bullying is a result of “hyper-sexualisation”.